RUNO

Rainer Maria Rilke
A Brief Rilke Biography

(for Lou Andreas-Salomé)

***
"Put my eyes out: I can still see;

slam my ears shut: I can still hear,

walk without feet to where you were,

and, tongueless, speak you into being.

Snap off my arms: I'll hold you hard

in my heart's longing like a fist;

halt that, my brain will do its beating,

and if you set this mind of mine aflame,

then on my blood I'll carry you away."

(Tekstin lihavointi ja kursivointi /RR)

***
Translation by William Gass

I wonder whether this poem is a reply, at least in part, to Matthew 5:27-30 (part of the "Sermon on the Mount"). Rilke might be saying that even if his offending, passionate members are amputated, his passion will remain: his desire is impossible to extirpate and, apparently, happily so, as being part of his essential human nature.

See Pascal's thoughts about destroying the body
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